Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
Pinterest
Tumblr
Delicious
LinkedIn
StumbleUponPosts Tagged: Melissodes agilis
Just Being Totally Territorial
What was that! If you grow Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia) in your pollinator garden, you've...
A male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, targets the back of a painted lady, Vanessa cardui, on a Mexican sunflower in a Vacaville pollinator garden. This is typical territorial behavior. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Heads up! A male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, heads straight for the painted lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch butterfly is interrupted by a male longhorned bee engaging in territorial behavior. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Male Longhorned Bees: Boys' Night Out!
Boys' Night Out! Have you ever seen a cluster of longhorned male bees sleeping overnight on a...
Male longhorned bees, Melissodes, spending the night on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia)in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Male longhorned bees, probably Melissodes agilis, begin to wake up after spending the night clustered on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Tiger by the Tail
One of Buck Owens' signature songs that never failed to please his fan base was "I Got a Tiger by...
A longhorn bee, probably Melissodes agilis, has this "tiger" (Western tiger swallowtail) by the tail. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Territorial male longhorn bees are targeting a Western tiger swallowtail as it's trying to sip some nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This Western tiger swallowtail, targeted by male longhorn bees, takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Let Us Prey!
Everybody eats in the pollinator garden. Everybody. The pollinators in our garden in Vacaville,...
A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata (as identified by Andrew Pfeifer) clings to a showy milkweed leaf as she dines on a longhorn bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis is a cunning predator. The score: praying mantis: 1. Longhorn bee: 0. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Nature's way; praying mantis devours her meal. The longhorn bee, probably a Melissodes agilis, erred in flying too close to the predator. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
After her meal, the praying mantis climbs toward the top of the milkweed to look for more "meal movement." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Bee and the Tiger
Talk about a butterfly ballet... A large Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, with a...
A male longhorn bee, probably a Melisoddes agilis, targets a Western tiger swallowtail nectaring on Tithonia in Vacavile, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Butterfly ballet--The startled Western tiger swallowtail takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Western tiger swallowtail, interrupted by a male territorial longhorn bee, decides the Mexican sunflower is not "big enough for both of us." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Persistent Western tiger swallowtail selects another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
